…Dominican Republic style. Coordinating the transportation of 46 people across a country border should not be more difficult than jumping online, typing in all our names, selecting a starting point and a final destination, then printing. Easy. However, I’m not in Kansas (the States) anymore; I’m on my first leg of the World Race, in the Dominican Republic! So here in the warm, sunny DR things run a bit differently than at home. The work ethic is not the same, attitude is not the same, business hours are not the same. In the DR, a bus scheduled to leave at 830 am doesn’t leave until full, whether that is at 8:31 or 9:31 am. A bus ride that takes 3 hours can take up to 4 with multiple unscheduled stops, traffic (vehicular or animal in nature), and roadblocks.
Needless to say, transportation day was long. I was lucky enough to have two guys from another team accompany me on the 14 hour day. Austin served as my “body guard,” while John Frank was the interpreter. Both men were truly a gift from God, without them I would not have been able to accomplish the mission.
As the logistics person for the team, I am responsible for assuring our travel to, in and from place to place. This month we are living in the Dominican Republic. Next month we are ministering in Haiti. There is a national border to cross in order to go from one side of this island to the other.
Therefore, simple bus tickets are not sufficient. One needs to provide passport numbers, birthdays, and loads of other information to secure one of these cross border bus passes.
So, to Santo Domingo we went, in pursuit of an ATM and a bus terminal. After four ATM trials, and three banks, we were directed to a bank branch inside a gas station. The long line was a good sign and we were quickly seen. The young man was dressed in a stylish suit and tie and didn’t flinch when we requested out 70,000 pesos. Calmly he went to authorize the withdrawal, came back and counted out the huge stack of colorful Dominican pesos. After the bank, we went directly to the bus station to begin processing the passage to Haiti…roughly 2:15-2:30 pm. At 4 pm we were notified that the woman in charge of the processing had finished approximately 16 tickets. 16!!!! It was not the most joyful time of our day, yet we each had our kindles and took the time to read, nap, and just relax. At 5:45-6 pm all 46 tickets had been printed, counted, and confirmed.
“Whoo.” At last, we all three joined in a unanimous sigh of relief. Immediately we called a taxi to fast track us to the nearest bus pickup for San Juan. I kid you not when I say we could have walked the distance faster than we rode; nor when I say that the drop off was a crowd of shoving, hollering, and sweating people on the side of the main road.
The first words out of my mouth were, “here? Are you serious?!” (When was the last time ya’ll have had that feeling?)
Well, it all worked out in the end. The crowd was like a large herd of cattle rushing at once the small narrow ramp of the pen; yet their destination was not our own. We were lucky to ask someone which bus was going to San Juan, be standing next to the correct bus and get the last three seats in the very back row. Another resounding, “whoo” when we settled into our seats for the 3 hours ride back.
What did I learn? Puritan work ethic is not a foundational practice in places other than the United States. ATMs and banks do not willingly accept foreign credit card withdrawals for multiple hundreds of dollars. Technologies, like wireless internet, faxing and printing are not readily available, even when specifically requested. Travel companions are lovely to have, even critical. A book should be on your person at all times, in case of a 3 hour waiting time, and group travel preparations are like a puzzle you must strategize to solve. Looking forward to more puzzles; I love the feeling of accomplishment when the whole thing comes together!
